Time Stood Still
by moviemom44
Summary: What were Sydney and Gage thinking when she kissed him in the "Wedding Bells, Part 2" episode? What might have happened if they had taken the next step? My first one-shot. I chose the rating because of one brief fantasy Gage has.


Summary/Disclaimer:

I don't own any of the characters. This one-shot fits within the Walker, Texas Ranger episode 'Wedding Bells, Part 2' and deals with what I think might have happened after Sydney kissed Gage. This isn't my first fan fic, but it's the first one I'm posting, so reviews are not only appreciated, but highly anticipated.

Time Stood Still

by

Moviemom44

Time stood still. The three friends all held their breath, their eyes glued to the television as they watched the jet plane touch down on the Georgia runway.

"They did it! They've landed safely!" shouted the news reporter.

Gage let out a whoop and Sydney threw her arms in the air and screamed like the Cowboys had just scored a winning touchdown. Trivette's knees gave out as he whispered, "Thank God!" and sagged against one of the bar tables.

Their friends, Walker and Alex, were safe.

Sydney and Gage threw their arms around one another in celebration. He hugged her so tight he lifted her off her feet. When he set her back down again, they smiled at each other, ecstatic that Walker and Alex's wedding day had not ended in tragedy.

Sydney took Gage's face in her hands and kissed him firmly on the lips. And time stood still again.

For the first split second, Gage was purely stunned, but in a heartbeat he felt himself responding to her kiss. Her lips were warm and soft and she tasted like strawberries. His arms tightened around her again and he tilted his head ever so slightly, hoping to deepen the kiss.

This certainly wasn't how he had imagined his first kiss with Sydney would be, but if this was where and when she wanted to kiss him, well he was all for it.

Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the kiss was over. As she pulled away from him, he could see the shock in her eyes. He knew he must have looked the same way to her.

"You want a beer?" was all Sydney could think of to say and all Gage could manage in response was "Yeah."

Sydney couldn't believe what she had just done. In the moment, it had seemed like exactly the right thing to do. She was in his arms. He was smiling down at her, looking so handsome in his tuxedo shirt. He had said all those nice things to her earlier about how beautiful and smart and funny she was. Her emotions just took over and instead of talking herself out of doing what she had wanted to do for so long, she dove in head first. The trouble was, her heart wasn't far behind.

Gage could still feel her lips on his, still taste her lipstick. He knew he shouldn't put much stock in her brazen move. They had both been caught up in the moment, swept away by the rush of relief that Walker and Alex were alright. Heck, he might just as easily have been the one to kiss her, if she hadn't beaten him to it. And with that thought, he made a discovery that sent a shiver down his spine. What he wanted more than anything in the whole world right now was to kiss her again. And again and again.

There. He'd admitted it, at least to himself. He had feelings for her that had nothing to do with being partners or friends. He wanted her – all of her. His mind was suddenly swirling with images of her in various states of undress, his hands roaming freely over her half-naked body as his mouth rained down kisses on her lips, her throat, her br –

"Gage! Gage!"

Why was Trivette yelling at him and snapping his fingers in his face? Couldn't he see he was busy seducing the woman he loved?

"Earth to Gage!" Trivette clapped him on the shoulder, yanking him back to reality. The scene in his bedroom evaporated and gave way to the interior of C.D.'s, where Sydney sat next to him, still staring straight ahead at the bottles arranged neatly on the back bar. The beers she had mentioned remained untapped. She was studiously avoiding looking in his direction by playing with the pearls that had been entwined in her hair during the wedding.

"What? Oh, hey, Trivette. Sydney and I were just gonna have a beer. You want one?" Gage said, standing up and reaching over the bar to fetch a glass.

"No, thanks. It's been a long and way too exciting day for me. I'm going to head out. I think I'll try to call Walker and see how he and Alex are doing."

"Congratulate him on a job well done for me, will you? Oh, and tell him I am now officially convinced there is nothing he can't do." Gage said, tipping his empty glass in a mock toast to his multi-talented boss.

"Will do. See you two tomorrow. Good night," Trivette said, leaving Sydney and Gage alone in the bar.

Sydney knew that she should leave now, too. She knew that staying even for a minute would be playing with fire, but she couldn't seem to move. Then Gage gently touched her elbow and all hope she had of recovering her dignity went sailing out the window.

"Syd? Are you OK?" he said, pretty sure she wasn't any more OK than he was.

"That's the second time tonight you've asked me that question and you pretty much knew the answer both times, didn't you?" she snapped. She wasn't really angry with him. She was scared to death that she had ruined the best friendship she'd ever known and there was nothing she could do to make it right. It wasn't like she could take back the kiss. No, thanks to the one truly impetuous thing she'd ever done in her life, they were on this road now and nothing would ever be the same again.

Gage could see that Sydney was more upset with herself than with him. What he didn't know was whether she was upset because she was sorry she'd kissed him at all. Was she worried that now he would think she had feelings for him that she really didn't have?

"Sydney, about the kiss…" he ventured, hesitating a bit to see if she would fill in the blanks the way he wanted her to. He saw her shoulders tighten, but she kept silent.

"Will you at least look at me? You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. Just look at me," he said, placing his hand on her chin and with a feather light touch turned her face toward his.

She decided it was pointless to try to hide from him now. She'd just have to take it like a Ranger. So she set her jaw, fought back the tears, looked straight into his smiling blue eyes and waited for him to tell her that he was flattered, but he really didn't think of her that way. She could almost hear her heart shattering into a thousand little pieces.

When she looked up at him, Gage's heart nearly burst. It was all there in her moist brown eyes. She loved him. He wasn't imagining it. She really loved him. Part of him wanted to crush her to him out of sheer joy, to kiss her so passionately that she could not possibly doubt that he loved her, too. But he saw that she was trembling and he knew that he had to move slowly.

Without taking his eyes off of her face, he stood up and carefully took both her hands in his and coaxed her off the barstool. She stood close to him, looking up at him with her frightened doe eyes. Lord, she was so beautiful! When he had told her that earlier, it was purely to reassure her that she would one day find a man worthy of her. Until she had kissed him, he hadn't dared to hope that he could be that man.

_Dear God_, he prayed silently, _let me be worthy_.

"Are you scared?" he said aloud, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Terrified," Sydney answered breathlessly as she raised herself up on her tiptoes.

"Me too," Gage said, as he leaned down to softly cover her lips with his. He let go of her hands, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. She slid her arms around his neck and opened her mouth slightly, hoping he would take the hint.

He didn't disappoint her. He heard her breath catch as his tongue found hers and he lost what little self control he had left. He moaned as she ran her fingers through his hair and he kissed her again with all the passion he could summon.

At last, their lips separated, but they held each other, her head on his chest, his chin resting on the top of her head, while they caught their breath.

They stood that way for what seemed like a long time, neither one wanting to break the embrace for fear that if they let go, they might not find their way back.

Finally, Gage said, "I love you, Sydney. I think I always have."

She looked up at him and said, "I've loved you from the moment I met you, Gage."

"Really? That long, huh? I guess that makes me pretty slow on the uptake, doesn't it?"

"Don't beat yourself up too much. I worked hard at keeping it to myself."

"Why?"

"Darned if I know, now, but at the time I'm sure I had a really good reason," she said, smiling.

He smiled back at her, knowing exactly what her reason was. Their friendship, their partnership was too important to risk on mere physical attraction. But now they both knew that while they were desperately attracted to one another, their relationship was rooted in their hearts. They were soul mates and nothing, not even time, would ever change that.

The End


End file.
